My-Son-Jack Turns One, Part Two

We had Jack's Birthday Party this past Saturday. It was a great time to celebrate our little guy. However, I always feel bad for the guest of honor on first birthdays. Then tend to be the most miserable of any of the guest. I always want to rescue them from the tortures of opening presents, eating cake, and being held. All said, though, Jack held together pretty well. Here are some pictures and videos.
















Jack didn't wear his party hat for very long, but we did get a couple pictures with it on. And, yes, he is eating a crayon.















Some of our distinguished guests.
















Jack enjoying his cupcake and chocolate banana. Hope he's not diabetic.


Here is a video of Jack getting his "walk" on, going back and forth between Karina and Uncle Ron.

Thanks for checking in. We leave you with a picture of Jack and I in one of his new birthday presents, a kid tent.

My-Son-Jack Turns One

This past Saturday My Son Jack turned one. On the one hand, it is hard to believe that it has been a whole year. On the other hand, it is hard to believe that he ever was not a part of our family.

Jack is standing on his own now. He has been doing so for several weeks. I don't know if it is fair to say that he is walking. He has taken some steps, though. Usually no more than two at a time. He can crawl so fast that I don't think he is terribly interested in taking the time to learn how to walk.

I will post more on Jack in the coming days because we still have not had his birthday party. I also had a video that my blog won't post, so you can check it out on my facebook page if you want. But right here on my blog I'll talk about some of my favorite things about my son.

Things I Love About My-Son-Jack
1. His Big Smile. Jack loves to smile. He is frequently happy.
2. His Controlled Sit and Stand. Jack sits and stands very well. He doesn't usually fall, but instead slowly lowers himself down.
3. His Happy Growl. He loves to growl happily while he crawls all over me. Pretty great stuff.
4. His Admiration of Big Brother. Jack is totally enamored with Matt, and Matt is really great with him.
5. His Communication Skills. Jack is pretty good at letting you know what he wants, whether it is food, sleep, or if he simply wants to be picked up.
6. His Nicknames. We call him JB. Those are not his initials, though. His full name is Jack Timothy. JB stands for Jack Bud, which Karina calls him. But nicknames have a tendency of morphing in our household. JB morphed into Haybee. Then we could call him Haybee Jaybee, which sounds a lot like the Heebee Jeebees.

I'm so blessed to be Jack's dad. Can't wait to see what it is like as he grows and develops his personality.

Podcasts

So, I like Podcasts.

I have only had an Ipod since Christmas (thank you, Dan and Ang). Sometime in January I started checking out podcasts. In fact, one day in January I announced to some co-workers that I had discovered podcasts. My friend Mike (DeRosier) asked me if I was serious. I think he was not too impressed with my tech savvy. Apparently these podcasts are not entirely new and innovative inventions.

All the same, I like to subscribe to 2-3 new podcasts every couple of weeks. Then I just go ahead and unsubscribe if I end up realizing that I am not listening to them.

So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite podcasts, and some ones that I would recommend:

Sermons

1. First of all, Good Shepherd does a podcast of all our weekend messages. We also have the Holy Spirit class on podcast, so I highly recommend that you check that out. I get the GSCC podcat each week. It is rare that I miss a weekend service, but the podcast lets me in on it if I do. It is certainly not the same as being at church, but it is still a good resource.

2. Desiring God Sermon Audio has John Piper's sermons from Bethelehem Baptist Church. They are long and deep. If you, like me, have greatly benefited from Dr. Piper's books, I recommend that you check out this podcast (more on Piper later).

3. Cornerstone Simi Valley Video Podcast is another good one. Many of you may have heard of Francis Chan, who is the senior pastor there. I prefer video podcasts over audio. I greatly respect Cornerstone Simi for their commitment to God's Word, and for their commitment to wrestling through tough issues as a church and coming up with out-of-the-box solutions.

4. Imago Dei Community Podcast is from the church in Portland, pastored by Rick McKinley. I have been listening to some sermons of theirs from 2004 on the kingdom of God. I have really been enriched by them. Highly recommended.

5. First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman is one that you will have to go to the website in order to subscribe. You cannot get to it through itunes. This one is a bit under the radar, but I highly recommend it. I have been very enriched by the pastor Thabiti Anyabwile. Here is a link if you want to check it out: http://www.fbc.org.ky/?feed=rss2.

Just a note on sermons. I believe very strongly in the local church. I don't believe listening to sermons is equal to being involved in a local church. I also think we need to be careful not to end up being critical of our own pastors and teachers just because we have access to great, nationally-acclaimed pastors and teachers. At the same time, if I am doing something, I think it seems reasonable that I will be enriched more (most of the time) by listening to good Gospel-centered preaching than just to some music. So, there is my disclaimer.

Others

1. Meet the Press is a video podcast of the Sunday NBC show. It is not the same since the untimely (from a human perspective) death of Tim Russert a few months ago. Tom Brokaw has been filling in a lot. I love the show (it comes out to about 50 minutes) and they have big time guests, often including the candidates themselves (Obama was on it two weeks ago for virtually the whole show, and McCain, Clinton, Huckabee, and many others were on during the primaries).

2. Preaching Today Talk is one that I just got last week, and I really like it. This may not be as interesting to non-preachers, but I wouldn't automatically count yourself out if you are not regularly teaching and preaching because it is connected to church ministry, and all believers (if you are one) are to be committed to the church. In this podcast, the head honchos from Preaching Today magazine talk about issues related to preaching. They are anywhere from 10-15 minutes in length. Great stuff.

3. Ask Pastor John is another new one I got. It is a 3-6 minute podcast of a question being addressed by Joh Piper. It is great because it is so brief, and yet you really get some food for thought.

4. 60 Minutes Podcast is the entire audio from the well-know show. I wish it was a video podcast, but it is still good. They usually have 3-4 news stories. If you are only interested in one, you can skip to it right away.

Random

1. Bono: The Rolling Stone Interview is very interesting, especially for a U2 fanatic like me. Some of you may know of the famous Rolling Stone article that came out in 2006, in which Bono talked about his music, his life, his faith, and his relief work. Interesting stuff. Warning, though, that there is some profanity in it. Bono is a bit liberal with his language, and the interviewer was even more so at points. Still, you have several hours worth of interview and the vast majority of it is totally appropriate.

2. The Man Who Was Thursday Audiobook. So, my favorite author of all time is G.K. Chesteron, and my favorite book of all time is The Man Who Was Thursday. You get the audiobook for free. It breaks up by the chapter. I have not listened to it yet, but I am looking forward to it (even though I have read it at least 5 times).

There are lots of other great ones out there. When I find them, I will tell you.